Cracked water glass egg

[cldavis1019]

This is my first time water glassing eggs. I went to get some out and one was cracked. When I went to remove it, it completely opened up and what looked like cloudy water came out of it, no egg white or yolk…do I need to replace the water now? The shell didn’t have a smell at all so I’m really confused haha

 

[Debbie292d]

This is my first time water glassing eggs. I went to get some out and one was cracked. When I went to remove it, it completely opened up and what looked like cloudy water came out of it, no egg white or yolk…do I need to replace the water now? The shell didn’t have a smell at all so I’m really confused haha

I found a thread and someone experienced on it that may be able to help you. @TooCheep

 

[Debbie292d]

In the meantime, here's the thread I was speaking of. It looks to be a plethora of information about water glassing.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/water-glassing-egg-preservation-experiment.1428588/

 

[TooCheep]

Thanks for the heads-up @Debbie292d.

@cldavis1019 -
You have an "interesting" case. I've been doing water-glassing for about 6 years and haven't heard of this exact situation before.

Cracked eggs are by far the most common problem with water glassing. Once an egg shell is cracked and lets in the lime water, that particular egg is ruined. The vast majority of the time, only that one egg is harmed. Rarely, the egg contents leak out and make a mess for the entire container.

The lack of smell is due to the lime. It's primary purpose is to raise the water pH so that bacteria can't survive and attack the eggs.

At this point, you need to examine your lime water. A thin clear crust on the surface is normal. Whitish powder (lime) that has settled onto the top of the eggs is normal. The water itself should either be relatively clear or possibly cloudy white if recently stirred up.

My concern is with your description that there was no white/yolk visible in the bad egg. The only time I ever had any egg leakage, you could see the whites solidified onto the surrounding eggs.

At this point, I recommend you play it safe and replace all of the water. This is a bit of an involved process:

• Carefully remove the eggs and place on a safe location, such as a tray.
• If you spot any cracked eggs, toss them.
• If you see any eggs with solidified egg white on the surface, clean them off and place them in your refrigerator. You can eat them normally. Their bloom (thin waxy coating) is now ruined and they can't be water-glassed again.
• Toss and replace the lime water.
• Carefully place the eggs back into the container.

Sorry this happened. It is pretty much a worst-case for water glassing. To minimize problems in the future, I've learned the following lessons that might help:

• Be sure to carefully place eggs into the lime water. Dropping them in can cause cracks.
• Try not to move/agitate the container any more than necessary. If you do need to move it, be very gentle.
• Optional: You don't need to add all of the lime water at once. That way, you don't need to reach into deep, murky water to place your eggs. Instead, I add one quart of mixed lime water, then add some eggs. When the eggs get near the surface, I add another quart of lime water until the container is full.

Good luck. Even with these precautions, I only get about a 90% success rate. The remainder are almost always simple cracked eggs which can be tossed.

 

[cldavis1019]

In the meantime, here's the thread I was speaking of. It looks to be a plethora of information about water glassing.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/water-glassing-egg-preservation-experiment.1428588/

Thank you!

 

[cldavis1019]

Thanks for the heads-up @Debbie292d.

@cldavis1019 -
You have an "interesting" case. I've been doing water-glassing for about 6 years and haven't heard of this exact situation before.

Cracked eggs are by far the most common problem with water glassing. Once an egg shell is cracked and lets in the lime water, that particular egg is ruined. The vast majority of the time, only that one egg is harmed. Rarely, the egg contents leak out and make a mess for the entire container.

The lack of smell is due to the lime. It's primary purpose is to raise the water pH so that bacteria can't survive and attack the eggs.

At this point, you need to examine your lime water. A thin clear crust on the surface is normal. Whitish powder (lime) that has settled onto the top of the eggs is normal. The water itself should either be relatively clear or possibly cloudy white if recently stirred up.

My concern is with your description that there was no white/yolk visible in the bad egg. The only time I ever had any egg leakage, you could see the whites solidified onto the surrounding eggs.

At this point, I recommend you play it safe and replace all of the water. This is a bit of an involved process:

• Carefully remove the eggs and place on a safe location, such as a tray.
• If you spot any cracked eggs, toss them.
• If you see any eggs with solidified egg white on the surface, clean them off and place them in your refrigerator. You can eat them normally. Their bloom (thin waxy coating) is now ruined and they can't be water-glassed again.
• Toss and replace the lime water.
• Carefully place the eggs back into the container.

Sorry this happened. It is pretty much a worst-case for water glassing. To minimize problems in the future, I've learned the following lessons that might help:

• Be sure to carefully place eggs into the lime water. Dropping them in can cause cracks.
• Try not to move/agitate the container any more than necessary. If you do need to move it, be very gentle.
• Optional: You don't need to add all of the lime water at once. That way, you don't need to reach into deep, murky water to place your eggs. Instead, I add one quart of mixed lime water, then add some eggs. When the eggs get near the surface, I add another quart of lime water until the container is full.

Good luck. Even with these precautions, I only get about a 90% success rate. The remainder are almost always simple cracked eggs which can be tossed.

Thanks for the info! Everything I do somehow something rare happens so I’m not even surprised anymore haha. But before I saw this I did decide to go ahead and replace the water because it was just freaking me out. I never did see anything solid but the water was murky with a yellow tint so it was grossing me out haha there weren’t any more cracked ones though thankfully.